A Thanksgiving Story
by NickyK
Summary: Just a light story about Jibbs celebrating Thanksgiving. Reviews welcome!


Author: NickyK

Title: A Thanksgiving Story (lame I know)

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: Just a fluffy story about Jibbs celebrating the Thanksgiving.

A/N: Hi all...just wanted to take a break from FTI because I'm having a difficult time writing the next chapter. Thought a fluffy, cheesy story oneshot would help some. Please excuse any mistakes and as always reviews are always welcomed. Enjoy!

Jenny Shepard burrowed further into her long winter coat as the cold wind whipped about, stinging her cheeks. The November chill had descended over the DC area with its usual flair for the dramatic; causing people to forego the lightweight jackets they donned in October and dig out the heavy winter coats, gloves, hats and scarves reserved for days like today. It was Thanksgiving and most businesses were closed and traffic wasn't nearly as bad as a normal Thursday morning, for which Jenny was grateful. It was easier to see if she was being followed when the traffic was lighter. She was fairly confident that she had not been.

Jenny glanced around again, more out of habit than any sense that someone was following her. She turned the corner to the church where the soup kitchen was being held, not at all surprised to see the line formed around the other end of the building. She entered through the volunteer entrance, embracing the warmth as it surrounded her. She breathed deep; smelling the aromas of food as she hastily undid the buttons on her coat and stuffed her gloves in her pocket. Hanging her coat in the coatroom, she made her way to the kitchen, her eyes seeking out the man in charge. She spotted him, lifting a heavy broiler out of the sink, its contents steaming. She walked over to him, careful to stay out of the way of the remaining cooks, servers and other people milling about the kitchen.

"Father Vince," she called out, making her appearance known.

"Vivian, you made it," he greeted, smiling broadly at her. "I'm glad."

"So am I," she replied sincerely. "Where do you want me?"

Father Vince paused, looking around to see where she would be needed to most. "Do you know Betty, short, older woman at the end of the service line? How about relieving her? She's been out there for quite a while."

Jenny nodded and made her way out of the kitchen and headed toward the seventy year old woman at the end of the line. Betty had been a parishioner of the church for over twenty years and was one of the first friends Jenny made. She tapped Betty on the shoulder.

"Betty, take a break."

The older woman smiled up at her and bright gleam in her eye. "Vivian, dear, you made it. I'm so pleased!" she said as she finished dishing out soup to a grateful gentleman.

Jenny couldn't help but smile back at the older woman. Betty was always happy and smiling and pleased to see everyone. She was a widow, with no children and looked forward to the soup kitchen just to be around so many people.

"Father Vince said you needed a break. Go grab something to eat. I'll take over for you."

"Oh, I think I will. My feet are a bit tired. I'll see in a little while, dear," she said patting Jenny's hand as walked away.

Jenny dug right in, handing out the dinner rolls and serving the soup. The soup kitchen was full today as people poured in off the streets to find a warm place to sit and a decent Thanksgiving meal. The servers earned their volunteers stripes as the food was distributed in even proportions to the many hungry faces that stood in line for hours, patiently waiting for their turn to get their fill. It was exhausting work with no pay and long hours, but the volunteers remained in high spirits despite all that. Good-natured conversation flowed throughout the room amongst the guest and volunteers alike as they all worked to make sure everyone was comfortable and well fed, especially the children.

Jenny enjoyed the time she spent here. She'd met people she would never have otherwise had the pleasure to meet and gotten to know people from all walks of life. Her conversations weren't filled with false promises and political undertones. There were real and honest and no one was afraid to tease her or joke with her. Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that no one, as far as she knew beside Father Vince, knew who she really was. To them she was just Vivian.

She wasn't sure what made her start volunteering. Father Vince ran the church and organized the soup kitchen every year. She'd met him through various channels and discovered about the kitchen's existence quite by accident. She'd happened upon the church two years ago when she'd been wandering about the city after successfully slipping her detail. It had been a time of reflection on her part, trying to figure out where her life was going and if her career was worth sacrificing so much. Basically she was feeling sorry for herself and completely alone, especially with the lack of family on such an important holiday - there wasn't much to be thankful for.

Jenny had entered the church after seeing the name and recognizing it as the one where Father Vince congregated. She had avoided the long line of homeless and hungry faces waiting to enter at another door and found herself inside the sanctuary itself. She'd sat there for a long while, warming up a bit before leaving. Father Vince had come inside the sanctuary then, apparently looking for something and saw her sitting there.

He hadn't recognized her when he'd first approached but once she stood and remove the wig she donned to escape her detail, recognition dawned in his eyes. He'd questioned what she was doing there and when she explained she didn't know he'd just smiled. Somehow he'd coaxed her into accompanying him to the kitchen, showing her around and explaining what they were doing and why. He'd been patient with her despite the fact he was needed elsewhere. Jenny sat on the sidelines observing how well the volunteers interacted with the people who came for food and warmth and temporary shelter. She was fascinated at how so smoothly everything went and lost al track of time just standing there watching.

At one point she became aware of a young girl watching her and wasn't surprised when she suddenly appeared at her side. She didn't look more than seven or eight and had beautiful large brown eyes that reminded Jenny of the Disney movie Bambi.

"_Hi," she said softly to the dark-skinned little girl._

"_Are you a helper?" the girl asked bluntly._

_Jenny frowned confused. "A helper?" _

"_Yeah, you know, like the people giving us the food," she said with a look that said Jenny should already know what a helper was. "Are you one of them?" she repeated._

_Jenny smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not a helper."_

"_I didn't think so; you don't look like a helper." The girl tilted her head, her large brown eyes studying Jenny intently. "Well, you don't look like one of us either."_

_Jenny was confused again. "What do you mean?"_

_The girl rolled her eyes. "I mean you don't look like you're homeless."_

"_Oh."_

"_Well, are you?"_

"_No. No, I'm not homeless," Jenny said quietly, almost ashamed to admit it._

_The young girl put her hands on her hips and frowned at Jenny. It was such a grown-up thing to do that Jenny almost laughed but didn't think her young companion would appreciate it._

"_Well, if you're not a helper and you're not homeless, what are you?" she asked, and then suddenly her eyes widened even further, if that was possible, and an excited gleam came into them. "Are you a reporter? Because my mama said that if I saw a reporter I was supposed to tell them that my name is Corie Jones and my mama's been out of work for a long time and she does everything and she's real good at it too. My daddy died but my brother can cut grass and do yard work too. Can you put that in your paper so my mama can get a job? Mama said sometimes reporter people come here looking to help and put our stories in the paper. That's what happened to Nina's family, now they don't live in their car no more and they come back as helpers. If my mama gets a job we can find an 'partment, then we don't have to be homeless no more and we can be helpers."_

_Corie stopped to take a much needed breath. And it nearly broke Jenny's heart when she saw the disappointment in the girl's eyes when she told her she wasn't a reporter. Her mother came over then, chastising Corie for running off and bothering people. She apologized profusely to Jenny before leading the girl back over to the table they were currently occupying. _

Jenny still didn't know what it was about that encounter that made her volunteer, but she had. She'd felt so bad about disappointing the little girl that after making several discreet inquiries about Corie Jones and her family, she'd given Father Vince the information to help Corie's mother get a job doing maintenance work at an office building. Father Vince had thanked her for taking an interest in the Jones family but had aptly warned her that there were plenty more out there where she'd come from and not to get into the habit of thinking she could help everyone. Jenny assured him that would not be a problem and started volunteering that day under the condition that her real name not be used. Instead, she assumed the name of Vivian Dubois, her mother's name. She'd come back every chance she got, which wasn't often but Father Vince still welcomed her help whenever she was able to make it.

There was a break in the line and Jenny took a moment to stretch her back. Betty had returned next to her and they were in the middle of a conversation when a discreet cough alerted them to someone in line.

Jenny faced the newcomer and her bright smile faded at the bemused face of one Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

She sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"You slipped your detail, Jen. Who did you think they were gonna call?" he said irritably. "Nice disguise by the way."

Jenny touched the long dark wig self-consciously. "How did you find me?"

He gave her an 'are you serious' look and Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Well, you found me. I'm fine and I'll be done in about another hour or so and I'll go straight home. So you can leave now."

"No can do, Director."

"Jethro! Don't call me that here," she hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard him.

Gibbs frowned. "Jenny, what is going on? What are you doing here?"

"Are you looking for Jennifer, young man?" Betty piped up. "You've got the wrong woman, I'm afraid. This here is Vivian," Betty said helpfully. "Jennifer is on the other end. See," she said pointing, "she's the girl in the flower dress but I don't think her husband is going to want a handsome man like you snooping around his wife." Betty smiled suddenly, her eyes darted around as she leaned forward, not wanting to be overheard. "Vivian can take you on. She's not married and she's much prettier, don't you think?"

Gibbs quirked a brow at Jenny and she felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"Thank you, Betty. Can you take over for me for a bit? I'll be right back."

"Of course, dear, take your time."

"Sure you can take me on…Vivian?" Gibbs drawled smugly as he walked next to her.

"Anytime, Jethro," she tossed over her shoulder, not missing a beat as she led him through the kitchen doors, looking for a private place to talk. She was heading toward the coatroom when Father Vince stopped them.

"Hey Vivian, everything okay?" he asked his gaze going from her to Gibbs.

"Everything's fine. I just need a private place to talk."

"Sure," he said wiping his hands on a towel before approaching them. "You can use my office. It's this way."

He led them to a door in the back and unlocked it. She smiled her thanks and started to enter when Father Vince touched her wrist. "You sure?"

Touched by his concern she took his hand in hers and nodded, waiting for him to leave before turning to Gibbs. She was taken aback by the look in his eyes as they followed Father Vince through the window.

"Jethro, are you alright?"

His eyes snapped to hers and she could have sworn she saw a flash of…something…was he jealous? Jenny dismissed the thought. No way, he couldn't be.

But his next comment made her wonder.

"Is he the reason you risked your life to come here?"

Jenny frowned. "Risked my life? That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?"

"Didn't answer the question, Jen."

"You're kidding me, right?" He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. "Jethro, he's a priest for goodness sake."

"The look he gave you wasn't very _priestly_."

"You sound jealous," she smirked.

"You're avoiding the question."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I come here to volunteer my services." He quirked his brow and she glowered at him. "Stop it, Jethro. I don't mean that kind of services and you know it. Father Vince runs the soup kitchen. He's also the only person that knows who I really am and just wanted to make sure that things were okay, that's all," she told him, stressing her last two words. "And they are okay, Jethro. There's no need for you to stick a guard at the door."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Oh," she said, "well, good. You can go then. I'll check in with you when I get home." She started for the door but was halted when he grabbed her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Jen."

She sighed exasperated. "Then I guess you're going to have to join me then, aren't you?" she told him, detangling her hand from his as she once again made her way through the door, this time without being stopped.

Jenny walked back out to the kitchen, grabbed an apron and tossed it at Gibbs. "Put this on, you're going to need it," she said ignoring the glare he threw her way.

She didn't wait to see if he did what he was told. Instead, she went back out to the food line and took up her place beside Betty. A few seconds later Gibbs joined her, apron and all.

"Looks good," Jen teased.

"I'm going to get you for this," he growled in her ear.

She smiled at him. "I look forward too it," she murmured seductively, chuckling at the surprise look in his eyes.

They worked side by side together, he serving the soup while she took over the salad for Betty, giving the elder woman another break. Jenny was glad to have him by her side, even though he kept calling her Jen when he addressed her instead of Vivian. Luckily a line had formed and everyone was much to busy to notice. Time went by quickly and after another two hours, Jenny was ready to call it quits. Father Vince had come over thank them as they prepared to leave but Jenny noticed that Jethro was too busy scowling at the fact that Father Vince's hand remained at the small of her back the entire time he was talking to them.

Although it was still early afternoon, darkness had fallen and the air seemed even colder. They stood outside the church both watching as the frigid air turned their breath into white wispy puffs of smoke. Gibbs glanced at his watch and Jenny wondered suddenly if she had kept him from something.

"Thank you for staying and helping. If you have somewhere you need to be, I can see myself home."

"Where's your car?" he asked.

"Home. I walked," she said answering his unspoken question.

His expression darkened as he turned to her. "You're taking unnecessary risks, Jen. Wanna tell me why?"

"I admit that walking here wasn't the smartest thing to do," she said, "but in my defense the church is only about three blocks from my home. I didn't think I would be here this late."

He stared at her, his eyes intent as they locked onto hers. "You can't do this. You can't just go off the grid and not tell anyone where you're going."

"But I was fine, Jethro. Father Vince runs a respectful place. There's no trouble here and no one knows I'm the Director of NCIS. I didn't see the problem with coming here."

"The problem," he said fiercely, closing the distance between them "is that you're in an unsecured building with public access. Anybody could walk up in here and start trouble. What if someone had recognized you, Jen? You had no backup if something were to go wrong, nobody knew where you were. If you went missing it would have been hours before we found out. You're too important and have too much valuable information swimming around in that head of yours to be out here without your detail. I shouldn't have to tell you that."

Jenny lowered her eyes. He was right; he shouldn't have to remind of her of duties. When she took this job she knew what it entailed. She knew she would have to give up part of herself and felt rightly chastised for her selfishness.

"You're right of course," she said straightening. "I wasn't thinking."

"C'mon, let's get out of this cold," he said and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her to his car.

As they reached his car, Jenny realized she had no desire to go home alone to an empty house. That was one of the reason she volunteered on Thanksgiving because she had no family of her own and it was just to depressing to sit at home.

"Jethro," she said once they'd settled in the car, "would you mind dropping me at NCIS instead of home? I have some things I need to catch up on."

He frowned at her. "Jen, its Thanksgiving."

"I know."

He shook his head, "you're going to blow us off for work? I thought I was bad."

"What are you talking about?" she asked confused at the anger she heard in his voice.

"Dinner at Ducky's? The one that Abby and Ducky planned at the last minute when they discovered no one had any plans. Everyone should be there by now."

"Yes, but that's for your team. You guys are like family anyway," she said removing her gloves now that the heat had kicked in. She took off the dark wig and glasses before running her hands through her own red tresses.

"Jen," he said softly, lifting his hand to push several stray strands out of her face, "you're part of that family, ya know. Abby would be very disappointed if Daddy showed up without mommy."

She turned to him and her breath nearly caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. "Will Abby be the only one disappointed?" she asked bravely.

"Naw, I think Daddy might be too. Besides, I still owe you for making me wear that apron."

She chuckled. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Well, we can't have anyone being disappointed on Thanksgiving Day, now can we."

"Nope," he said, surprising her by taking her hand in his own.

Jenny felt a tingle grow through her at the contact. She leaned back against the seat, feeling content if a little sad. "I'm going to miss volunteering at the church. I really enjoyed it," she said wistfully.

"Who says you have to give it up?" he asked.

She snorted. "The Director of NCIS can't very well be serving food with a guard posted at the door. It'll scare everyone away."

"The Director can't but Vivian and Jethro can."

She looked at him, astounded. "You'd volunteer with me?"

He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. "Sure, why not? I didn't mind it so much." He cleared his throat. "I kinda liked spending the time with you," he admitted awkwardly.

Jenny smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Me too," she said, feeling more than a little pleased that he would do that for her. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"Yeah, well," he said brushing off her gratitude, "somebody's got to keep their eyes on that Father Vince."

Jenny laughed and gazed at him affectionately. She'd finally found someone to be thankful for.


End file.
